Month: January 2012

Allen Haff is the slick-talking wheeler and dealer on Auction Hunters that scours storage facilities with his partner Clinton “Ton” Jones looking for great loot. Whereas many of today’s famous professional locker hunters were self-taught, Allen actually has auctioneering in his blood. Allen’s father was a collector and antique specialist that showed his son the ropes, meaning that Haff has nearly double the experience and time spent with auctions than any average Joe that walks in off the street. Allen Haff was born in Michigan, but today he criss-crosses the country rapidly in search of the best storage auction finds.

Allen became so proficient in antiques dealing that he opened and operated his own antiques business at the age of 24. This guy knows what he’s talking about when it comes to valuables, old or strange oddities, and things you just can’t seem to categorize. All this specialized knowledge helped Allen to land a string of successful television appearances that further catapulted his career and ultimately caught the attention of Auction Hunters producers.

In fact, Allen has opened and maintained a number of retail and collectibles operations over the years, including Hollywood & Vintage, a company he started in Los Angeles to process, refurbish and re-sell specialty items coming out of movie studios in the area. He gained notoriety early on as a pioneer in online sales, becoming one of the first and most successful eBay sellers to deal in specialty and rare items.

On the show, Allen is a smooth operator with a keen eye for the treasure peeking out amongst the trash. He works closely with Ton to procure the items they believe will be worth their time. It’s refreshing to watch this duo work together and provides a nice counter-balance to the tried and true but somewhat more common reality television approach of setting up multiple intense personalities to clash with one another.

Allen and Ton have different styles and personalities, but they’re both extremely knowledgable and professional so watching them spot, process and profit from good lockers makes for entertaining TV. Both bring a very deep background in antiques and oddities to the table, but sometimes one of the duo’s specialties will help to cover a gap in the other’s knowledge.

Ton and Allen have a good working relationship that started up when Allen helped Ton re-sell a storage unit full of depression glass for a big payoff. Since that time they’ve been working together and discovering that they have more in common that it may seem at first glance. Allen Haff describes his working relationship with Ton as very positive because both men are competitive and willing to work hard to make their pay dirt.

Allen is also pretty outspoken about his role as the Auction Hunter on Spike’s hit TV show. He claims that when he was first approached to become one of its stars, he didn’t want to take the offer because he didn’t think this kind of show would have a positive effect on the industry he loves so much. You have to remember that Haff has been doing this his entire life – he eats, sleeps and breathes auctions and re-sale.

However, eventually Allen realized that, whether or not he liked it, these shows were going to proceed with or without him and they were likely to become big. He says he’s not oblivious to the storage auction craze that Auction Hunters and Storage Wars have drummed up, and that it’s only natural that so many viewers should tune in, see the big scores, and want to throw their own hats into the ring. But he doesn’t spend time agonizing about how the swell in popularity has jacked up prices or made it harder for veteran auction buyers to keep walking their same old beats without crossing into eager newbies. It’s just the nature of the game.

As for the best and most definitive answer as to whether or not Auction Hunters is fake: Allen says that the episodes that finally air only show 20% of the units that he and Ton actually buy. He chalks up all the screaming and whining on the blogosphere about the show being totally false to jealousy and cheap therapy for the whiners. The fact of the matter is that in addition to the units Allen buyers on Auction Hunters (only 20% of which are actually shown!) he still buyers several hundred storage units per year.

Combine this kind of drive to succeed with his expertise on antiques and their values and you can understand why he makes so much money! Haff has just as much to say to people wondering how they, too, can turn a really good profit by working public storage auctions. For one thing, it takes a great deal of hustle and drive. The second element is to build up your knowledge of items values by watching the shows, reading catalogues, studying eBay auctions (that are already successfully completed!) and attending trade shows to learn what everything is truly worth.

Here’s a clip from Auction Hunters that shows how Ton and Allen work together to score big off of the strange items they sometimes find in units they buy. In this clip, you’ll see them turn around a display coffin and some fire fighting equipment. It’s just another day in the life of the Auction Hunters.

California may have well been the birth place of storage auctions, given how many repossessed lockers change hand in the state every day. Once again home to a booming gold rush, Los Angeles lays claim to some of the most active storage auction hunting territory in the country, with plenty of local self storage properties having been featured on the major reality shows that follow professional buyers.

Los Angeles storage auctions have all the right ingredients for extremely lucrative big-scores and modern day treasure hunts: a transient population with disposable income, a high median income that translates to lots of goodies, collectibles and antiques being squirreled away in forgotten and abandoned storage lockers, and plenty of pack-rat nuts that hoard valuables but then lose track of their monthly payments for one reason or another.

Los Angeles could well be considered the mecca of storage auction hunting. There are no shortage of facilities to scour with over 4,000 active facilities in this state alone. Our professional storage auction data company classifies Los Angeles as having a “Very High” frequency of public storage auctions, with as many as six-hundred individual auctions occurring on a busy month in the greater area. That’s 600 different unique opportunities to strike it rich on a treasure-packed unit.

To get a 10% discount on your storage unit auction list subscription, use this coupon code: Auctionkings1.

Visit Storage Unit Auction List and make sure to pop in your coupon code: Auctionkings1 during checkout to receive your discount! You can also call the friendly folks from Storage Unit Auction List at 1-800-353-8417 for personal assistance. To find out more about how this service works, just click here.

Get a leg up on your competition – don’t forget that the same elements that make Los Angeles in particular and California in general such great places to find storage lockers for sale also draw competing auction hunters to the scene like flies to honey. With professional spreadsheets delivered to you every month, you’ll make it to sales they don’t even know are happening. Good Hunting.

Storage auctions in Richmond, Virginia are often packed with some pretty sweet loot. There’s a lot of money in this area and it shows when you uncover a well-stocked repossessed storage locker that has fallen into auction status. Due to its proximity to the nation’s capitol, Richmond Virginia draws a lot of high powered but transient workers that have to commute to and from Washington D.C.

What does all this mean for you as a storage auction hunter? Mainly that you can uncover a veritable gold mine of lucrative storage lockers in this wealthy area. Many people that pass through this way cram their self storage lockers full of business equipment like laptops, wireless printers, routers and expensive drafting or survey gear, only to have their work orders fall through. If the gear was purchased and paid for by their companies, more often than not it falls through the cracks, meaning it’s ready to be discovered by determined auction hunters.

To get a 10% discount on your storage unit auction list subscription, use this coupon code: Auctionkings1.

Visit Storage Unit Auction List and make sure to pop in your coupon code: Auctionkings1 during checkout to receive your discount! You can also call the friendly folks from Storage Unit Auction List at 1-800-353-8417 for personal assistance. To find out more about how this service works, just click here.

Our professional listing service rates the Richmond area as having a “high” frequency of storage auction sales due to the transient nature of the region’s visitors and high turnover in the major employment sectors. On a busy month, this can mean as many as 125 unique auctions. When you order a storage unit auction listing, you’ll receive a monthly spreadsheet that includes the facilities’ phone numbers, addresses, sale date and sale time.

It’s amazing the things that people can fit inside a storage unit. Half the fun of winning an auction is finding out what sort of treasures are hidden within. If you recently won an auction you may have found it was filled with more than just old memorabilia — maybe there was a huge tiki head or a big neon beer sign pushed to the back amongst all the boxes and containers.

Your primary concern once you’ve won the auction should be to connect with potential buyers. You don’t want to have to hold on to that replica Civil War cannon or that massive antique bookshelf for too long.

It can be extremely difficult to find a buyer who is willing to come to your home and pick up the item being sold, so when you find your buyer, your work is still not done. Items that have warnings like “buyer must arrange pickup” can be off-putting to a potential buyer so you’ll need to arrange for the item to be shipped.

If you are lucky enough to get paired up with a buyer who is interested in the item you’re selling, a bad shipping rate will dramatically lessen your profit margin.

If you’re looking to get a bulky item on the road to its new owner, look to companies like uShip that can arrange affordable delivery of the most bulky items.

uShip, which figures largely into the new A&E television show Shipping Wars, is a company that allows independent shippers to bid on shipping jobs for everything from animals to cars. This bidding system guarantees that sellers get the best price for their shipping job.

Logan is a guest writer who blogs about auctions and how to procure the best shipping and courierjobs.

The senior member of another father and son auction hunting duo, Darrell Sheets “The Gambler” has laid claim to some pretty hefty scores in his years of sifting through storage units. Some of his biggest finds include a letter that was found to have been written by president Abraham Lincoln, which netted him $15k, in addition to a couple of paintings by Picasso. Darrell came upon storage auctions when he was 20 years old, after being fired from a landscaping job that simply didn’t fit his personality.

Laying down cash on delinquent storage lockers, however, was something else entirely. Since appearing on Storage Wars, Sheets has been absolutely blown away by the show’s fans and the general response they’re getting. He never expected this kind of publicity or success for something that seemed to be a relatively quiet little niche. As opposed to the other professional buyers on the show, Darrell has made a name for himself by taking bigger risks and taking them more often.

The reason for this is that Darrell looks at storage auctions differently than his competitors. Whereas Barry, Brandi, Jarrod and even Dave might work by the day, trying to only spend what they must in order to turn a profit, Darrell works by the month. If he’s a few grand up by the end of the month, it’s been a successful one, all told. This means that Darrell will keep on buying and laying out cash even when the competition isn’t quite as eager to jump on a unit.

This is not to suggest that Darrell is simply shooting in the dark and hoping for good luck. He applies the same perceptive experience, savvy and good buyer’s judgment when it comes to selecting one storage unit as opposed to another. Sheets has mentioned he likes “clean” looking units without too many dusty footprints or indications of grime because it means that the original owner most likely boxed up and secured valuables and goods they cared about, but then through some twist of fate lost their ability to access it.

Darrell calls these kinds of lockers “virgin units” because of their cleanliness. On the contrary, he feels that units that have mud and boots tracked all over them have likely been used semi-recently as an outpost for their original tenant and it’s far less likely that he’ll find something spectacular tucked away that the owner never intended to give up. In fact, one of Darrell’s favorite tell-tale signs to look for is whether or not the tenant paid a professional moving company to install their stuff in their storage locker.

People that pay professional movers are able to pay professional rates, which means they have good stuff. It also means they might have been using the storage locker as a staging area for getting into a new home or out of an old one, and that there could be some hefty estate valuables tucked away inside. When the locker door rolls up and Darrell has scanned through all of his go-to signs, he finally trusts his gut. “If I want it, I get it,” Darrell says. In fact, Darrell’s nickname is fitting in that he has described storage auction hunting as the kind of roller-coaster ride that you just can’t get off once you’ve experienced your first high.

Darrell claims to have experienced about 20 truly excellent and lucrative storage auction lockers in his time, and he says that the feeling of getting one of those lockers has been enough to propel him through this industry for 20 solid years. Turning $3,000 into $100,000 in a week or too is just too sweet to walk away from according to Sheets.

Here’s a video of a fan spending some time with The Gambler if you want to get an up-close look at his big personality.

The bad boy of storage auction hunting is known as Clinton “Ton” Jones. A native of California, Ton is a man of varied interests, which can be as tame as collecting ancient coins and bills or as wild as buying junk cars to trash in the desert. In fact, looking for beater cars to destroy for fun is exactly how Clinton first got into buying storage lockers. On Auction Hunters, Ton leverages his many years of expertise in rarities and collectible items like unique weaponry and armor to earn himself handsome profits on repossessed lockers he buys up.

If you’ve ever seen Storage Wars, you know that it’s all about the competition, egos and bad attitudes that can pervade a storage auction. In Storage Wars, all the regular contestants battle one another and sometimes resort to tactics as low as bidding up a unit they don’t even want just to cost their fellow auction hunters more money. There are often arguments, mind-games and constant posturing and intimidating.

Auction Hunters takes a different tack, which can be refreshing. Ton and Allen actually work together as a team to make the smartest purchasing decisions possible. They have both been steeped in antiques, retail and rare commodities for many years, so when they put their heads together they’re a masterful purchasing team. They keep their eyes out for very specific details, unnoticed by less experienced buyers, that alert them to potential profits.

For example, when Ton and Allen open up a locker and find a bunch of fold-up lawn chairs, they think twice about laying any money out for the unit. They believe these kinds of furniture are strong indications that the previous owners led a pretty transient lifestyle, meaning that it’s unlikely they preserved anything of real value in their unit.

Ton gets a lot of praise from his fans for being a cordial, friendly and down-to-earth guy. California residents often bump into him in the course of running errands and say that he has a good head on his shoulders and that fame has not spoiled him.

Aside from starring on Auction Hunters, Ton has an exotic animal control business and often responds to animal rescue or emergency calls that involve some pretty unique and scary critters such as poisonous snakes. One enthusiastic forum poster even thanked Ton for helping to compassionately put down his family’s dog when it had been critically injured in a car accident.

Ton is definitely a big boy, weighing in at over 300 pounds and standing 6 feet high. He had already become a well-known auction buyer in the Southern California area and his stint on Auction Hunters has only solidified his credibility as a professional storage unit buyer. There’s no doubt we’ll be seeing Mr. Jones around the auction circuits for many years to come.

Top rated antiques and collectibles show is looking for an on-camera assistant, who is well versed in history and antiques. Looking for an attractive, sexy, edgy but not too alternative, 24-30, energetic female who isn’t afraid to put some work in. Someone who would rather go to a museum than a night club! Acting credits not required.

There’s no denying it: Brandi Passante is Storage War’s resident hottie, and she’s drumming up quite a fan base of her own. It’s safe to say that a good number of fellas fond of watching Storage Wars are mostly tuning in to see Brandi show off her next short skirt and tight top.

Brandi is a curvy girl with an ample bust and shapely figure. She usually shows off her boobs by wearing tight fitting tops. She’s also fond of letting her low scoop necks show off her sizable cleavage.

Here’s Brandi paying up for a storage unit she and Jarrod have just won.

Her dress has certainly been adjusted to display her assets.The wide black belt also helps to push Brandi’s boobs up into view.

Brandi usually dresses casually for interviews on Storage Wars and whenever she’s working at her and Jarrod’s thrift store Rags to Riches.

But it’s not uncommon to see Brandi turn up to a new episode and a new auction dressed to kill. She favors simple but elegant dresses that show off her naturally attractive body without going too far over the top. She has a definite California Girl style going on.

Next up, we’ve got Brandi in a playful devilish mood, during an interview with the filming crew. Whenever Brandi gets up close to the camera for a one on one it’s easier to get a sense of her sweet personality and charming disposition.

She sometimes gives her partner Jarrod a pretty harsh talking to whenever she feels he’s overpaid for a unit, but there are also plenty of moments where her innate sweetness shines through.

Brandi seems to have gotten up to some kind of mischief in this shot and she’s holding a hand up to her face to conceal a wry smile.

Many of her young male fans have taken note of Brandi’s large breasts, but in truth she has a the whole package with a classic hourglass figure.

Here’s a picture that truly shows off Brandi’s boobs as she wears a tight black tanktop and leans up against a storage unit while taking a phone call.

Here our storage queen is sporting some brown retro tinted sunglasses, a revealing spaghetti strap top and a long pendant necklace. Talk about looking hot without even trying!

Brandi doesn’t seem particularly happy in this photo, but that’s O.K. She’s also plenty attractive when she’s just a little bit mad.

When Brandi isn’t on the scene making big purchases and sifting through storage auction units looking for buried treasure, she’s a mother two her and Jarrod’s two children.

The couple has stated that their real interest in storage auctions and their thrift store lies in being able to provide for their family and attain financial freedom. What’s sexier than a beautiful woman with a strong drive?

Next up in our countdown of the sexiest Brandi Passante photos is this little gem that shows our girl in a full-on headshot. Although Brandi usually has a soft and playful appearance, her facial features are actually quite striking in this picture.

Her hair is dirty blonde and her dark brown eyes are very round and soulful. Her face is capable of great expression.

This is a very beautiful portrait style photograph that shows off Brandi’s naked and open gaze.

She’s not the kind of girl that needs a lot of make-up and concealer to look good. Much of her charm comes from her natural un-fussed style.

This picture is proof that some simple lip gloss and a set of hoop earrings is all that Brandi needs to let her natural beauty shine through.

Brandi probably gets some cute points for being one of the underdogs, too. She has the least significant financial assets of all the Storage Wars buyers.

It is estimated that Brandi is worth about $700 thousand all told, but this is really not much compared to some of the multi-millions that her competitors are slinging around.

Brandi and Jarrod just need to put in some more time and keep on doing their best to make careful purchases and they’ll soon have an even greater nest egg socked away.

Here’s a candid shot of Brandi lounging back in a director’s chair and getting comfortable. Part of Brandi’s allure is the fact that she seems like a real person. She’s escaped the common celebrity pitfall of seeming plastic and unreal. Brandi’s wearing a simple green dress here but still looking hot as ever.

There’s no need to play the unattainable goddess at all times, and even when Brandi is fired up and irritated she still seems like a real person.

Brandi’s working her way up into a “so what” expression while casually lounging back in this fold-out director’s chair. It’s anyone’s guess what she’s talking about.

Although she’s occasionally guilty of being whiny, Brandi also has plenty of fun on the show and that makes us like her all the more.

She seems the least likely of all the buyers to result to downright jerky tactics like running up a unit’s bid price just to torment the buyer that actually wants it. We’re looking at you, Dave Hester.

And now for something completely tasteless. Here’s a close-up of Brandi’s chest. Now we understand why the demographics of Storage Wars viewers are skewed strongly to the 18-25 year old male crowd…

Brandi’s physical measurements have been the topic of frenzied speculation for some time now, but there has yet to emerge a definitive answer regarding her bust size.

For now, the reality will have to remain a mystery, although it’s pretty clear that Brandi does not have breast implants.

This is a screen capture from one of the episodes of Storage Wars where Brandi is standing in the hall and discussing a unit purchase with Jarrod.

Here’s an elegant full-length shot that shows off Brandi’s long legs. Her dress and make-up are understated which is all the more indication of her natural beauty. She doesn’t need to spend hours in front of a mirror to look presentable, but has a nice natural glow from living in California and soaking up the sun.

She’s got a bit of a stern face on in this image, but it’s all for show as she poses to look tough enough to hang with all the other auction buyers.

Brandi has a versatile look thanks to her light features and dirty blonde hair. She can pull of a wide range of outfits and colors, though some argue she looks her best in darker tones.

One thing’s for sure: we appreciate the effort that Brandi puts into looking good before she shows up to the set for filming, which is must more than we can say for her often schlubby partner and the other professional schlubs that they bid against.

Brandi brings a sorely needed element of softness and grace that the show would just be a middle-aged sweat-fest without. I’m confident Storage Wars would not have the strong viewership it can boast today if it weren’t for Brandi locking in so much male attention.

Our next sexy Brandi shot is a candid shot taking by our storage goddess herself. She looks to be getting ready to head out for a night on the town and we can see two small bird tattoos on the tops of her feet.

Does this ink speak to some bad-girl tendencies that Brandi once had or is currently suppressing for her TV roles? There have been rumors floating around that she once worked as an adult entertainer, but there’s nothing really conclusive out about that yet.

All we know is that she looks cute taking a picture of herself using her cell phone and a mirror and seems to be checking out a new dress – maybe this is a shot from inside a dressing room?

The arms are a little funky but otherwise I think Brandi can pull it off. Black is always a good color on her and it’s impressive that she still has this great a body even after having two kids!

Brandi is some kind of wonder woman that doesn’t seem to slow down. When she’s not spending time with her family or filming new episodes of Storage Wars, she’s working overtime to take her Rags to Riches thrift shop to the next level of profitability.

We’ll round out this round-up with a cute picture of Brandi in an inquisitive mood, mugging it up for the interview camera yet again. Be sure to tune into Storage Wars to Brandi and all the other storage auction buyers in action!

Storage War’s Dan Dotson has been steeped in auctions his entire life, starting out at the tender age of 11 when his grandfather, an auctioneer of cattle and farm equipment, began showing Dan the ropes. Since then, auctions have been a constant fascination for Dotson, who would spend summers working for his grandfather.

From then on, Dan has never strayed far from the auction scene, becoming known as a self storage auctioneer as well as an auctioneer of collectibles, antiques, furniture and estates. In 1983, he began American Auctioneers, which would first put him on the map as a top auctioneer.

Dan’s a prolific work-a-holic and is famous for usually running about 2 auctions per day for up to 6 days per week, and up to 1,500 in a good year. His American Auctioneers is responsible for handling everything from business close-out sales, to foreclosure auctions to sales for charity. His prodigious work ethic has certainly paid off for him now. It’s estimated that Dan Dotson is worth 3 and a half million dollars all told.

In 1996, after American Auctioneers had been established as a success, Dan met his wife Laura.

Laura was not only the apple of his eye but also a shrewd business woman, so the two collaborated on several auction based projects and their teamwork continues today, since they co-host Storage Wars and conduct their cadre of zany and eccentric storage pickers around the country looking for hot storage units and big scores.

Dan has the essential rapid fire patter you’d expect from a seasoned professional auctioneer. On Storage Wars, he calls out units very quickly and maintains order once the bickering starts following a tight bidding war. Check out this video to see Dan and his wife Laura in action on an estate sale, and to get an experience of Dan’s famous “heirloom chant” auctioneer calling.

Storage Auction Tips From Dan Dotson

Dan has built up a great deal of storage auction wisdom over his decades of selling units. One of the best storage auction tips Dan gave behind the scenes of Storage Wars regards “smelling out” units.

Of course, you can’t smell a storage unit when you’re watching it being sold on TV, but you can when you’re in person the scent, or stench, a unit gives off can be the greatest clue to its potential.

For example, musty newspapers have a very distinct odor, and the mustier they are, the older they likely are. Dave Hester took a big whiff of a unit on Storage Wars and it smelled like a winner, so he bought it and found collectible newspapers featuring Elvis on the front page.

Dotson also mentions that gasoline is another very distinct smell that can give you clues as to whether or not you’re likely to find valuable lawn care equipment in a given storage unit.

Dave Hester “The Mogul” cuts an imposing figure on the set of Storage Wars, with his squat frame, steely glare and trademark, “YUUUUUUUUUP” bidding calls. Owner and manager of the Rags to Riches consignment store, Dave heads the largest retail operation of all the Storage Wars crew. In terms of hustle and drive, Dave might be the most possessed of all the buyers. He is responsible for 15 employees’ paychecks, so he needs to turn a profit on his unit purchases if he wants to stay afloat.

Dave got into storage auction buying in a somewhat roundabout way. After being convicted of a DUI and sentenced to community service at a consignment shop, he realized the business model made sense and that he could use the ample repossessed storage sales happening in California in order to feed his own shop with inventory. Today, his shop is located in Costa Mesa.

By the way, Dave’s shop, being run on consignment, is a bit different from your traditional thrift store in that people will often show up with goods they need sold. They’ll pass this work on to Dave and his crew who will take a cut of the final sale price for their trouble.

To this end, Dave relies on Storage Wars to boost his profile and thereby draw in more interested consignment customers that want to see the star in real life. To this end, Dave is not above drumming up attention for himself by acting outlandishly at times.

On the show, Dave is willing to employ any tactic necessary to get the units he wants. Although Barry is often eccentric and loopy, Dave can be downright aggressive, obnoxious or worse. By way of intimidation, he will intentionally keep bidding on a unit he knows another picker really wants.

Once he’s jacked the final price up to where it’s really going to hurt the other buyer, he’ll leave it be and let the other cast member eat the high price tag. Essentially Dave has just jacked up the cost of a unit he wasn’t even interested in order to eat into his competition’s profits. Perhaps he’s hoping the other buyers will turn tail and quit since they’re not clearing enough money on their purchases. Maybe he’s simply in a bad mood.

Although he can sometimes become emotional on the set of Storage Wars, especially if he ends up overpaying for a junky unit, Hester usually keeps things business like and efficient. He wants to feed his thrift store with goods and keep his business running smoothly, but that doesn’t mean he’s immune to some of the showmanship that has turned Storage Wars into such a phenomenon.

For example, in one episode Dave rolls up to the storage facility in a custom screen printed truck with Dave Hester Auctions and YUUUUUUUUUP printed all over it just to flex his financial muscle.

At times he’ll offer unsolicited advice to “young guns” Jarrod and Brandi, saying that Jarrod needs to spend some time reading through trade show magazines and catalogs to “get his knowledge up” regarding item types and their values.